Looking to buy my first Cerbera, anyone know P885 KON?

[MKC320]

Thanks again for all the advice, they let me put a fully returnable holding deposit down until I am free to get down and view it (hence the sold notice). Str8six are very busy at the moment, if any one knows a TVR specialist that would be willing to come down with myself (and Gruffalo) to take a look at it up on a ramp please let me know. I’m planning on going one afternoon weds - sat this week.

[TwinKam]

I used Philip Phedonis, very pleased with the scope of his report, reasonable fee, google him under his name/ sports car inspections.

[mjf93]

MKC320 said:

Thanks again for all the advice, they let me put a fully returnable holding deposit down until I am free to get down and view it (hence the sold notice). Str8six are very busy at the moment, if any one knows a TVR specialist that would be willing to come down with myself (and Gruffalo) to take a look at it up on a ramp please let me know. I’m planning on going one afternoon weds - sat this week.

I went and had a look at this car a while back. It wasn't for me, but its by no means a bad example.

There is some blistering on the paint on the osr 3/4, and blue over spray on the outrigger as I recall. The paint is in a very poor state generally, but could come back with a polish, and by no means the end of the world.

Chassis has been covered in waxoyl, with lots sprayed generally everywhere underneath, but the chassis looked generally ok, although the offside outrigger isn't perfect.

The rear tyres seem to be the wrong size for the car, they are sort of big balloon tyres.

The boot smelt of petrol inside, possibly just a seal on the cap?

The reason I walked away in the end was the servicing. There is no evidence of any servicing for nearly 20 years, and the mot history indicates it has been in constant (although light) use. It may be that the oil was changed regularly and no receipts kept.

There are some haggle points for you if nothing else

[Biggles1964]

As a new cerb owner, the best advice someone mentioned earlier is spend some time with one driving etc. Mistake I made is buying on spur of moment. Turned out I got a very good one, u still needed a little tinkering. Not sure I'm going to keep it yet, undecided. They are great sports cars in every way! However there is a but, and I'm not sure what that but is? May it's so different to my other cars, I just can't put my finger on it.

[Tyre Smoke]

Biggles1964 said:

As a new cerb owner, the best advice someone mentioned earlier is spend some time with one driving etc. Mistake I made is buying on spur of moment. Turned out I got a very good one, u still needed a little tinkering. Not sure I'm going to keep it yet, undecided. They are great sports cars in every way! However there is a but, and I'm not sure what that but is? May it's so different to my other cars, I just can't put my finger on it.

A Cerbera as a spur of the moment impulse buy? I'm intrigued.

They certainly aren't perfect, the rear seats are a waste of time - what was the point, really? And a convertible would have been amazing, or perhaps an AJP8 in a Chimaera is the car that never was?

[GT6k]

If you would like another decent one to look at i am about to put mine on the market, pm me.

[Biggles1964]

It's a long story, I had mad idea of collecting some cars the ones we kind of secretly lusted after. But I had a goal of getting to 2000 bhp collectively! I'm lucky my partner is very understanding (most of the time). The cerb had been one of these cars, by chance my one came up at auction as mentioned in a previous thread. Bought it online without having seen it, crazy I know. Watched auction live, placed a crazy bid not thinking my bid would be enough as no where near reserve. But a few hours later the vendor accepted bid and here we are.

As a sports car it ticks all the boxes, it reminds me of an elise I once owned. I guess the only gripe I have is it is a little unsophisticated. I took it out this morning and enjoyed it's bad boy manners! That is until I had to do normal speeds with the rest of the traffic.

Regardless of all that bad boy stuff, it looks bloody great from most angles, and ageing well!

[Byker28i]

Tyre Smoke said:

Biggles1964 said:

As a new cerb owner, the best advice someone mentioned earlier is spend some time with one driving etc. Mistake I made is buying on spur of moment. Turned out I got a very good one, u still needed a little tinkering. Not sure I'm going to keep it yet, undecided. They are great sports cars in every way! However there is a but, and I'm not sure what that but is? May it's so different to my other cars, I just can't put my finger on it.

A Cerbera as a spur of the moment impulse buy? I'm intrigued.

They certainly aren't perfect, the rear seats are a waste of time - what was the point, really? And a convertible would have been amazing, or perhaps an AJP8 in a Chimaera is the car that never was?

I had the kids in the back of mine until they hit about 12-13. Covertable, why Sir, we just drop the windows and take the side off instead...
and it was the fastest TVR, why have slower

[Tyre Smoke]

My son would only fit until he was about seven. And dropping the windows isn't the same as taking the top off!!

[ianwayne]

I see it's been relisted on ebay. No change in price, although a new MoT is promised. Not sure if that was on the original listing:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-Cerbera-4-2-V8-Impe...

[Byker28i]

Tyre Smoke said:

My son would only fit until he was about seven. And dropping the windows isn't the same as taking the top off!!

Drove 25 miles home yesterday with my wife in the back and a friends wife in the front...
Sometimes it helps being short and having the seat right forward

[popegregory]

Biggles1964 said:

And a convertible would have been amazing, or perhaps an AJP8 in a Chimaera is the car that never was?

He wanted it to replace the Rover V8 completely but it was supposedly too powerful in the shorter wheelbase convertibles

[ukkid35]

Still for sale, doesn't bode well for anyone who needs to raise cash due to the current crisis

[gruffalo]

ukkid35 said:

Still for sale, doesn't bode well for anyone who needs to raise cash due to the current crisis

The right cars are selling, I was chatting to a dealer last week and they have sold two cars in the last couple of weeks.

I think the problem with this one is the very early Cerbera had an terrible reputation for poor build quality, that along with the lack of service history there are a few things that would put people off this one.

[MKC320]

gruffalo said:

The right cars are selling, I was chatting to a dealer last week and they have sold two cars in the last couple of weeks.

I think the problem with this one is the very early Cerbera had an terrible reputation for poor build quality, that along with the lack of service history there are a few things that would put people off this one.

I think if it was £10-£12k it would have sold long ago

[ukkid35]

Is there anyone who doesn't think that prices will be lower in six months time?

Perhaps I'm more pessimistic than most, but I think prices will halve within 12 months

[GT4RS]

ukkid35 said:

Is there anyone who doesn't think that prices will be lower in six months time?

Perhaps I'm more pessimistic than most, but I think prices will halve within 12 months

This is an interesting question, half from where mind as the pricing of these cars ranges for 40k plus down to 18k plus. Can you see a car valued and advertised for sale in 12 months for 20k. If that happens I will effect all cars.

[robsco]

GT4RS said:

ukkid35 said:

Is there anyone who doesn't think that prices will be lower in six months time?

Perhaps I'm more pessimistic than most, but I think prices will halve within 12 months

This is an interesting question, half from where mind as the pricing of these cars ranges for 40k plus down to 18k plus. Can you see a car valued and advertised for sale in 12 months for 20k. If that happens I will effect all cars.

Prices won’t be hit that hard. Maybe a small softening but certainly not 50%.

[popegregory]

robsco said:

GT4RS said:

ukkid35 said:

Is there anyone who doesn't think that prices will be lower in six months time?

Perhaps I'm more pessimistic than most, but I think prices will halve within 12 months

This is an interesting question, half from where mind as the pricing of these cars ranges for 40k plus down to 18k plus. Can you see a car valued and advertised for sale in 12 months for 20k. If that happens I will effect all cars.

Prices won’t be hit that hard. Maybe a small softening but certainly not 50%.

I agree. They’ll soften on speculator cars but the market for these is people who want a TVR

[JapanRed]

Hi all, I’m very seriously considering selling my 911 and getting a Cerb. Prices on Pistonheads range from £18-£48k. What gives?
I know the £48k one has been recommissioned by Str8Six but if you could get the £18k one (or the aforementioned eBay one) for £15-16k you would then have a £30k+ slush fund over the Str8Six one. I’m sure even at Str8six £30k buys a lot of repairs and upgrades.

I’d probably get around £30-35k for my 911 and could put extra towards a Cerb if required. Total budget is about £40-50k.

The best thing about my 911 is reliability. I’m not mechanically minded so reliability is the top of my wish list, although I wouldn’t mind taking the cheaper model (if I bought that) to a TVR specialist and letting them do their thing to bring it up to date if necessary.

Any thoughts/suggestions?
Thanks. Rob